Tennessee Volunteers Basketball Details

The Tennessee Volunteers are one of the most successful SEC basketball teams to date, with 20 NCAA Tournament appearances and four SEC tournament titles to their name. Playing out of Thompson Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee’s main rivals are Florida, Kentucky and Vanderbilt. Coach Rick Barnes has been leading the program since 2015, helping the program find some stability after parting ways with Bruce Pearl amidst controversy in 2011. Barnes brings a track record of success to the Vols, as he took Texas to the NCAA Tournament 16 out of his 17 years with that team. Despite only being with the Volunteers for two seasons, he’s helped UT have its highest scoring offense since the 2008-2009 season, averaging 75.1 points per game.

The Volunteers finished the 2016-2017 season with a conference record of 8-10, good for tenth in the Southeastern Conference. Their overall record was 16-16, and the highlight of the Volunteers last season was their home win over fourth-ranked Kentucky. As for the 2017-2018 season, the Volunteers return stud Grant Williams and have five new recruits joining the team. Forward Zach Kent is a three-star recruit who averaged 17 points and nine rebounds his senior year. He has been called the complete package and might be exactly what the Volunteers need. Jalen Johnson is another strong recruit, a four-star forward from North Carolina. Other new recruits include guard Derrick Walker, forward Jacob Fleschman and guard John Fulkerson. The young guns will look to follow in the footsteps of past Tennessee players drafted into the NBA, the most recent being Jarrett Allen who was selected by the Brooklyn Nets in the 2017 NBA Draft pick.